


At the end of all things

by Tunfisken



Category: Hermitcraft RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Creatures & Monsters, Alternate Universe - Post-Apocalypse, Communication, Creature Fic, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, M/M, Mild Horror, Other, Sharing Body Heat, Sharing a Bed, Supernatural Elements, Trust, Wilderness Survival, wandering
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-08
Updated: 2021-02-09
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:07:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 19,103
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25783354
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tunfisken/pseuds/Tunfisken
Summary: When the world had ended, Grian thought that would have been it. After all, the world had ENDED - there was a pretty strong implication that there’d be nothing else afterwards.
Relationships: Charles | Grian/Steffen Mossner | Docm77, Grian/Doc
Comments: 62
Kudos: 278





	1. The sun goes down

**Author's Note:**

> This is an idea that burrowed into my brain and made itself at home. It's a multichapter, but it's probably gonna stay quite short and sweet.
> 
> Have fun!

~ * ~

When the world had ended, Grian thought that would have been it. After all, the world had _ended -_ there was a pretty strong implication that there’d be nothing else afterwards.

He’d left the village once there had been no more people there for him to stay behind for. There were no more resources for him to gather, and the houses were barely standing up against the monsters that had started coming out at night, picking his neighbours, friends, and family off, one by one, until everyone had either been taken, or left to seek a better place for themselves.

Grian had never believed in such a place existing—

But there was nothing left for him here, anyway. He’d gathered as many materials as his ratty backpack could carry, and he’d set out on foot. Every night, when the sun had crept lower and lower in the sky, Grian would make his way up into the tallest tree he could find. He’d burrow in amongst the branches, lay down some wool to sleep on, and settle in for the night, praying he’d wake up in the morning.

He didn’t know what kinds of monsters were out there, or what sorts of abilities they had, but so far, his strategy seemed to have worked. He woke up, time and time again, and so, Grian kept walking.

He’d passed other villages, devoid of life, large cobwebs covering missing parts of the walls and ceilings. Grian shuddered when he imagined the size of the beasts capable of creating webs of that size.

He didn’t care to find out, and so he moved on.

Grian had been making his way through a roofed forest the first time he saw him.

Grian did not care for the dense forest, but the way the canopy had stretched out as far as he could see on either side of him, with the peak of a mountain barely visible on the other side, Grian had decided to pass through it. Now, he was jumping at every small creak and groan that sounded from the forest around him, and Grian couldn’t help but to doubt the wiseness of his decision.

It was so dark, barely any light making its way through the canopy to light up the overgrown forest floor. Only the bright red mushrooms dotted about allowed him to tell where the ground was tilting upwards or downwards. Other than that, the fungi were useless. Poisonous. Each night when he made his way onto the top of the trees, he dug around the leaves for apples he could carry with him to add to his dwindling food supply, seeing as no animals seemed to find their way into the dense forest.

The lack of cows and sheeps and chickens were why the sounds reverberating through the leaves were so worrisome. Something was out there. But Grian never caught sight of it—

Until he did.

He barely even noticed at first - the green skin of the creature blending in almost seamlessly with the grass all around him. Grian had been walking for a few hours and had stopped for a short break, seated on a small hill and eating a bright red apple when movement caught his eye.

Grian froze, teeth halfway sunken into the skin of the fruit. Some juice ran down his chin. Grian didn’t move. His eyes were as frozen as the rest of him, locked in place at this strange being before him, Grian’s brain working overtime to try and categorise what it _was,_ and whether it was a threat or not.

Green skin, strangely textured. A tall, imposing frame, halfway hidden behind a tree trunk - Grian struggled with accurately gauging it’s exact stature, how much of it was being hidden from him - but from what he could tell the creature seemed... humanoid?

They seemed to be at a stalemate. Neither party was moving, and Grian _knew_ the being had seen him - a dark eye was looking straight at him, causing shivers to run up his spine. But the thing wasn’t attacking.

Slowly, Grian lowered the apple from his mouth and settled it beside him. With a trembling hand he blindly reached out towards his backpack, fumbling with it until his fingers wrapped around one of the shoulder straps. All the while, Grian maintained the eye contact, never breaking his line of sight with the creature. He put the backpack on, and hesitatingly stood up on unsteady legs.

The being remained as unmoving as ever. Grian took a step away from it. Still nothing.

Another step. Nothing. Two more. The creature blinked.

Grian spun around and ran.

He ran as far and as fast as his legs could carry him, muscles burning with the exertion. By the time he came to a stop, leaning heavily against the trunk of a tree, his heart was pounding so hard in his chest that it felt like it had made a permanent indent against his ribcage, while his lungs felt so dry and warm that it felt like they had shriveled up. He took heaving breaths, struggling to calm himself down as he slowly straightened back up, still leaning heavily on the tree—

Grian swore he saw movement.

He threw his head from side to side, searching the forest around him - but nothing. There was nothing else in the forest as far as he could see. It was quiet, too.

Grian kept moving.

A few days later, he saw it again.

By then, the sounds of the forest had returned, just as loud and imposing and frightening as they had been before Grian’s run-in with the creature.

It was nearing night time, and Grian was getting ready to gather more apples while finding a good spot to sleep in, to get away from the forest floor, when he turned his head - and there it was. Grian startled, and as his heartbeat began hammering wildly in his chest, he considered running.

But. The creature hadn’t done anything last time. It didn’t seem hostile - just creepy. It was still keeping the same distance to him as last time, still hiding half of itself behind the trees. It was still staring at him. Grian blinked.

“Are you following me?”

He didn’t know why he decided to speak to it. It might look humanoid, but the creature had shown no other sign of being person-like. And as he expected, he didn’t get an answer. Grian sighed with disappointment. At least it hadn’t attacked at the sound of his voice, right? That was something.

“It’s gonna be night time, soon. It’s not safe to be out.”

The creature blinked at him.

Grian stood still, observing the being for a minute - but when it didn’t react further, he shrugged, before slowly turning back around to the tree he’d scoped out for himself. He grunted as he climbed his way up the gnarly bark and low-hanging branches, but soon enough he could place down his wool, creating his usual makeshift bed. When he peeked through the canopy, the creature was still there. Staring at him.

Grian scoffed. “That’s creepy, you know.”

He decided to forego the apple picking for the night. It was getting late, anyway. As he settled down on this small sleeping alcove, facing the trunk of the tree, he called out a low, “...good night,” over his shoulder, directed to where the creature was. As predicted, he didn’t get a response, but Grian swore he could feel eyes digging into his back.

Grian fell into a restless sleep.

When he woke up, the creature was still there, a pile of apples laying neatly stacked at the roots of the tree Grian had been sleeping in. Grian almost stepped on them after he’d repacked his backpack and swung down from the nook that had been his home for the night, but he managed to stumble around the red fruits before accidentally turning them into applesauce.

Grian stared down at what almost looked like a small offering at his feet, before slowly tracing his gaze back to where the creature had been the night before, and sure enough—

It was still there, seeming to never have moved at all.

“Did you leave these here?”

The creature blinked at him, slowly. _Oh._ It understood him? Or was it just a coincidence?

“Are they for me?” Grian asked, wide-eyed.

_Blink._

Grian blinked a few times, too, confusion building up inside him as he struggled to find a proper response to that. “I… thank you?”

A small hiss left the creature. Grian jumped in his skin at the sudden sound, however soft and distant it was - it had still been unexpected, and the forest around him had once again grown quiet without him noticing.

The creature moved. Grian startled again, but the green being just turned around and disappeared back into the forest. Grian felt his heart leap, and he called out after it, “Wait!”

But he was alone again, faint sunlight peeking through the leaves above him, and a pile of bright red apples at his feet.

  
  
  


Grian had reached the edge of the forest. It felt like weeks had passed in there, though he did not truly know how long it had been. He’d long since stopped paying attention to the days, seeing as knowing was of no benefit to him.

He quickly decided to spend the night there, seeing as it was already midday, and on the long stretch of plains leading to the mountain range he’d spotted from the other side of the forest, there were no large trees or natural high ground to be seen. If he decided it was worth the risk to be stuck at night without a safe place to sleep, he at least wanted to have the entire day at his disposition.

Also, there was a lake a short walk away. He could need a proper bath, as well as washing his clothes and refilling his waterskins.

By this point, it was no surprise when the green creature was waiting for him by the lake. It had once again been camouflaged by the grass and bushes all around it, but Grian didn’t feel fear at its presence for more than a fleeting moment, when he first caught sight of it.

The wide open space and ample lighting around them might also have been a factor in Grian’s newfound confidence.

He sighed, and resumed walking from where he’d momentarily frozen in place as he caught sight of the creature. Grian removed his backpack and let it fall down at the rocks making up the edges of the lake. Then, he paused, and turned to fully face the strange being.

Surprise surprise, it was watching him, half hidden behind the trees.

“Hello,” Grian said to it. It blinked back at him, letting Grian know it had heard him. Grian sighed again, before quirking half of a smile. The action felt unnatural on his face - it had been so long since he’d had anyone but his own blurry reflection to emote to. “This is just gonna be a thing, now, huh?”

_Blink._

“Yeah, I thought so.” Grian hesitated, before softly calling out, “...thank you for the apples, by the way.”

Grian got to work undressing, pulling his grimy hoodie off of his body and kicking off his shoes, before peeling his pants off. Then, he paused before he could remove his undergarments. A quick peek over his shoulder, and - yeah, the creature was still watching him. Grian shuddered, but didn’t comment on it. He left his underwear on as he stepped into the freezing water. Goosebumps spread out all over his skin, but Grian paid it no mind as he waded deeper, until the water reached his waist.

As he started scrubbing the filth, grime and dirt off of his body, he turned back to the creature. Grian blinked as it was nowhere to be seen. There were only trees and bushes.

Had it left already?

Grian deflated a little bit - it was strange, and weird, and kind of creepy… but it was something to talk to. And it didn’t seem to wish him any harm. Quite the opposite, in fact, by how it’d given him all those apples.

Grian turned back to where he’d left his things, wanting to get his clothes so he could wash the dirt and tree sap off of them as well—

Grian choked on a shout as he stumbled and fell back in the water, head disappearing beneath the surface with a shock of cold. The creature had moved, and Grian had not been expecting it.

He scrambled to stand back up, spluttering out water and wiping at his face as water dripped from his hair and into his eyes. Once his vision was clear, the creature was still standing by his pack. It wasn’t looking at him, and it wasn’t standing up - rather, it was crouched down, gazing intently at his backpack. Huh.

“Sorry I screamed - you scared me,” Grian said, voice still shaky from the adrenaline. The creature looked at him fleetingly - and Grian caught a glimpse of a red, glowing eye - before its gaze darted back to the pack.

“Are you interested in my backpack? I could show you if you’d like?”

That caught its attention. Once again, it turned to fully face Grian. And finally, Grian could see the creature in full. It looked… so, so much like a human, but all the details were off. Its ears were too pointy, the eyes mismatched. Grian could see sharp teeth pointing out, covered by the creature’s slightly parted lips. Dark brown hair, and, of course - that deep green skin that looked so much like the canopy Grian had spent so much time amongst.

Grian was startled out of his visual exploration by the creature working its jaws for a moment—

“...show?”

Grian’s jaw dropped. Had the creature just—

Then it blinked at him, slowly, and Grian’s jaw snapped shut as he forced his brain to start working again. “Yeah, yes, I-I can show you. Would you like that?”

Again, the creature hesitatingly worked its jaws, like it was not used to the movement. Then it spoke once more, proving to Grian that it had _not_ just been a figment of his imagination.

“...yes.”

Grian felt unrooted, like gravity itself was shifting beneath his feet. He nodded, before clumsily wading through the water until he reached the shallower edges of the lake.

He’d never been this close to it before. Up close, Grian finally realised the true size of the creature. Even crouched down as it was, Grian could tell that it was much, _much_ bigger than himself. Broader, taller. He shivered at the realisation, knowing that if it had been hostile, Grian would not have stood a chance against it.

Grian cleared his throat, and reached a shaking hand out for his backpack, before flipping the lid open. “This,” Grian said, “Is the pack I use to carry my things around. I, uh, I keep my clothes and tools in here, as well as my food and drink. Things like knives, rope, axes, scissors, wool for making a bed to sleep in…” he trailed off, looking up at the creature to see if it understood.

It was watching Grian’s hands intently, carefully taking in each object Grian pointed to. It paused at the wool, before slowly pointing a clawed finger at it, saying, “Bed?”

“Yeah, wool for a bed,” Grian nodded. “Like you’ve seen me do in the trees at night, so I can sleep the night away.” Grian hesitated, before asking, “...do you sleep?”

“No,” the creature replied.

Grian had expected as much, but it still made something cold curl up in his stomach. He asked, “Do you eat?”

Again, it replied, “No.”

Grian swallowed, before asking the question he knew and yet dreaded the answer to.

“Are you a human? Or a monster?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song rec: I Lived - OneRepublic.


	2. You see at night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Are you a human? Or a monster?”

~ * ~

“Are you a human? Or a monster?”

The creature stared at him.

The longer it took without replying, the bigger the chill in the pit of Grian’s stomach grew. After a while, Grian realised it wasn’t going to answer him. Maybe it didn’t understand the question, maybe it didn’t want Grian to know.

He sighed. Maybe it was better off this way. “Do you have a name, at least?”

The cocked its head, taking Grian in before saying, “...Doc.”

“Doc,” Grian repeated, nodding his head. “Nice to meet you. I’m Grian.”

Doc didn't answer him. It just stared. Grian waited for a bit, in case it was just searching for words, but with a sigh, he realised it seemed to be done speaking for now. Being able to have an actual conversation with another living being, no matter if it was human or not, had been nice while it lasted.

"Well, I'm going to wash my clothes, now. You can stay if you'd like - I'll spend the night here before heading off towards the mountains in the morning."

Doc blinked at him in acknowledgement.

Grian got to work. He emptied the contents of his backpack out in full, and pulled all of his spare clothes as well as the outfit he'd been wearing into the lake with him. He scrubbed at them all until the water ran mostly clear off of them. Satisfied, Grian waded back onto the rocky shore. He spread the wet fabrics over the sun-warmed stones, before picking up his backpack, rolling it up, and settling down onto the grass spreading out towards the plains. He placed the backpack beneath his head, and made himself comfortable.

He closed his eyes, and he hummed contently as the sunlight warmed his cooled flesh back up, drying his hair and making him feel sleepy. The back of his eyelids were a bright red from the sun’s rays shining down on him.

Then, a dark shadow blocked the light. Grian blinked his eyes back open.

Doc was staring at him, having stood back up at some point before joining Grian on the grass. Now, it was blocking the sun. Grian squinted up at it.

"What?"

Doc stared at him with an emotionless expression. "You... sleep?"

Grian stared at Doc before letting his eyes slip shut again, squirming around on the grass as he tried to get out of the shade and back into the sun’s path. "No, I'm not sleeping. I'm just drying off the water. I don't sleep during the day - that's what the night is for."

Doc made a strange humming sound, before its shadow left Grian's body. Grian heard the gentle rustle of grass shifting beneath Doc's feet as it walked away from him, leaving him in silence once more.

  
  
  


Early the next morning, the sun just having peeked over the far side of the plains, Grian made his way down from his tree to find Doc waiting for him, apple in hand. "For you," Doc said.

Grian looked up at Doc while an affectionately exasperated feeling curled up in his gut. "Thanks," Grian said, reaching out and grabbing the red apple from Doc's clawed hand. "Are you coming with me?"

"You want? Me to?"

He might have been imagining it, but was Doc speaking more fluidly? Its speech was still stuttering and simple, but... No, it was probably Grian's imagination. He shook his head before answering Doc's question. "I guess? I don't mind if you do. I'm used to travelling alone, but..." he trailed off, swallowing.

"... it's nice to have company, too."

"Company," Doc agreed, mismatched eyes burning into the side of Grian's head. "With you?"

"Yeah," Grian said, a strangely choked-up sensation wrapping around his throat, making it harder to breathe. If his vision was growing slightly blurry, that was no one's business but his own. "We can be in each others company."

"Grian," Doc said.

Grian jumped a bit - Doc hadn’t said his name before, and it was a strange thing to hear being spoken from the tall being, pronounced so softly through the sharp teeth Grian _knew_ Doc possessed. It had been a long time since _anyone_ had said Grian’s name, much less in such a gentle way.

"Y-yes?"

Doc pointed at the apple still resting in Grian's palm, forgotten. "Do you eat?"

A startled laugh escaped him, his grip around the apple tightening as his free arm wrapped around his stomach to support himself - it had been so long since he'd had any reason to laugh - but through peals of giggles, he managed to gasp out, "Y-yes, Doc - I'm gonna eat it." Immediately, Doc seemed to perk up beside him, and Grian entered another laughing fit.

  
  
  


The two of them set off together, the pale light of the early hours casting long shadows of every bush, flower, and strand of grass that stuck up far enough from the ground for the low-hanging sun to reach. The rustling of greenery beneath their feet and the crunching of Grian's teeth sinking into the apple was the only sound to be heard for a long time, the two of them walking in a strange but companionable silence.

Grian couldn't help but to sneak glances at Doc out of the edge of his vision, eyes darting to the curious creature before returning to the path ahead.

Doc was staring straight ahead, its longer gait easily carrying it forwards, yet its movements slow enough to match Grian's pace. By the time Grian's apple was finished and he'd thrown the core away, the sun had begun climbing, and the light was gentler on the eyes.

"So," Grian said, breaking the silence. "You don't eat, and you don't sleep. What _do_ you do?"

Doc let out another one of those strangely breathy hums. It made shivers work their way down Grian's back, the sound vaguely reminding him of something - though he couldn't recall what, or where he'd heard it before. Then Doc was speaking, and Grian shrugged the feeling off.

"I walk. I see. I search."

"What do you search for?" Grian asked. He turned his neck so he could watch Doc openly as they walked. The plains were even enough for him to not need to pay much attention to where he was walking for fear of stumbling over an uneven root or outcropping rock, and he took full use of that fact now that he had the opportunity.

Another hum. "I don't... know the name. A place. Feeling." Doc suddenly met his eyes, and Grian felt his heartbeat speed up as the mismatched dark and almost glowing red gaze locked onto him. Doc added, almost questioningly, "Way? Road?"

He didn't understand, but... he wanted to. "Are you lost?" Grian asked.

Another hum. "Lost. Yes."

"I'm lost, too," Grian said. "I know where I'm going, short-term, but... Yeah. I'm lost. I don't know what I'm hoping to find out here. Just... something."

"Something," Doc parroted.

"Yeah," Grian sighed, before going back to facing the mountain range in front of them. "Just… something."

  
  
  


Dusk was approaching, and Grian was starting to get nervous. The foot of the mountain was still quite a bit away, and the terrain around them was still flat and void of trees for him to hide in for the night.

He turned to Doc. "I might have messed up," he confessed. "I don't know how to get through the night if there's no trees or caves for me to hide in."

Doc looked at him with an unreadable expression. "We manage."

"To sleep out here? In the open?!" Grian replied, fear and frustration building up inside him. "Even if the monsters don't bother _you,_ they'll sure come for _me_ if I stay out here."

"No," Doc said, shaking its head. Grian blinked a bit at the movement - Doc hadn't been doing that before, had it? It continued, "We make it in time. Up there," and Doc turned back to face the mountains ahead.

Doubt still settled heavily in his gut - but Grian sighed. There was no use to let his emotions get to him. Either they'd make it, or they wouldn't. He took a deep breath before forcibly relaxing his shoulders, feeling the tension that had been stuck in them slowly dissipate.

"I guess we'll see," Grian conceded. The two of them kept walking on. If the rhythm of Grian's feet thudding against the ground was more hurried than before, Doc didn't comment on it.

They were making good progress, but it wasn't enough. The ground beneath them turned from soil and grass and flowers to gravel and rock and dry dirt, but Grian still couldn't see any outcrops that would be suitable for the two of them to keep safe from the monsters that would be arriving any moment now. He kept stumbling, feet catching on pebbles and making them fly off, clinking loudly as they hit the rocks around them, the sounds echoing back at them tenfold.

It was getting harder and harder to see, the darkness creeping in on them.

The moon peaked up over the mountains, and Grian halted in his tracks, about to comment on it, when he heard a hiss from behind him. Instinctively, Grian started to pivot around, to face whatever was producing the strange noise - it sparked a flash of recognition within him, but he couldn't remember from where— and suddenly Doc moved with a speed that made Grian's body freeze, his stomach dropping.

Doc leapt in front of him, back to Grian and facing whatever creature it was that had snuck up on the two of them. Grian was still frozen in his spot, legs feeling as if they were rooted to the ground as he trembled violently. The knowledge that something - and it had to be a _monster_ \- was standing so close to him, that it had snuck up behind them and that there still was nowhere for Grian to _hide—_

Another hiss cut through the air.

Grian's eyes widened. That had come from _Doc_ \- and he was suddenly reminded of where he'd heard the strange hissing noise before, of why it had seemed so familiar. Doc had produced the same sound, once, back in the roofed forest.

Another hiss echoed from the other creature, Doc still blocking it from Grian's vision - or, rather, blocking it from seeing _him_ \- and the air was filled with the deafening silence of suspense. Grian was scarcely breathing, knowing how close to an attack he most likely was—

The soft crunch of gravel beneath padded feet met Grian's ears. He flinched - but the sound was moving away, growing fainter and fainter until he could hear it no more. Grian remained frozen in his spot until Doc turned around to face him.

"You are okay?"

Grian startled at the suddenness of hearing Doc speak. Grian gulped down a desperate mouthful of air, feeling his body tremble violently at the amount of adrenaline working its way through him. "I," he licked his lips. "What was that?"

"...creeper."

"A creeper? What is a creeper?"

Doc frowned. Grian blinked at the sight of the human-like expression— "Not now," Doc said. "Keep moving."

Grian shook his head. "Right. Yes, moving. Moving is good." Grian turned around to face the easiest path up the mountains once more, and he started walking. Doc stayed behind him, and Grian found himself feeling safer at the knowledge that the tall creature... man? Was behind him. Had his back.

They found the lip of a shallow cave just as the stars began appearing on the sky. Grian poked his head inside, and it was blessedly empty. "It's clear," he said to Doc, turning around to look at him before startling at their sudden proximity. Doc was standing right behind him, leaning slightly over him to gaze into the cave opening as well.

"Good," Doc said. "I will guard the opening while you sleep."

"Oh," Grian breathed, trying to calm the frantic beating of his heart. The poor muscle sure had gotten its fair share of work that day, going overtime with fright and nerves, time and time again. "Yes, that sounds good." Grian stepped inside the small cave proper, pulling off his backpack and gathering the wool in his hands before spreading it out on the floor of the cave. He turned back to face Doc, asking, "...and you're sure you don't need any sleep at all?"

It was dark in the cave, and the only source of light was the faint shine of the moon silhouetting Doc's profile, where he was seated sideways, back leaning against the opening of the cave. It wasn't much light to go off, but Grian could _swear_ he saw the ghost of something that seemed like a smile play at the corners of Doc's mouth.

"I am sure. Grian. Go to sleep."

"Okay," Grian agreed, softly, feeling the weight of exhaustion settle over his mind and body like a blanket. He sank down onto his makeshift bed, curling up to face the opening of the cave. His eyes slipped shut without him needing to tell them to, and his mouth was forming words, even as he felt sleep claim him, dragging him deeper.

"Night night… oh, and Doc?"

A questioning hum sounded, bouncing against the cave walls.

“Thank you for staying.”

If Doc responded to that, Grian didn’t know. Sleep dragged him beneath the surface, claiming him for the night. An unlikely creature sitting guard over his body, keeping him safe from the monsters that came out after dark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song rec: Hunger of the Pine - Alt-J


	3. All that is living

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The world grew colder as two unlikely companions grew closer.

~ * ~

When Grian woke up the next morning, it was to the soft glare of pale sunlight hitting his face. He squinted against it as he blinked his eyes open, trying to work the blur of sleep as well as the bright spots dancing in his vision away so he could take in his environment. There was no sound of the rustle of leaves around him, and even just the fact that the sunlight hit his face, unobstructed by the canopy—

He shot up into a seated position, heart pounding. Then he heard Doc’s voice call out to him, and Grian remembered.

“Good morning.”

Grian turned his face towards the bright entrance of the small cave the two of them had taken refuge in for the night. There he was, still seated with his back to the entrance, exactly where he’d been when Grian went to bed. It took a few seconds before his still pounding heart and foggy mind allowed him to find his words. Finally, he returned Doc’s greeting, with a simple, “Morning,” of his own.

“Do you have more eat?” Doc asked him, cocking his head curiously. Grian mostly saw his silhouette, his eyes had still not gotten used to the brightness, but the movement was recognisable enough.

"Do I have more food, you mean? Yeah, I do. Why?"

Doc hummed. "No trees, so no apple for you."

Grian couldn't help but smile. "You don't need to worry about me eating, okay, Doc? I can take care of myself. I appreciate it though." Then, a thought hit Grian, and he couldn't help but ask, "By the way, how do you even know that I need to eat? If you don't, yourself?"

Grian's eyes were getting used to the light. He noticed it when he saw Doc blinking at him, slowly, before answering. "I see you do it. Every day, always. You eat more than apple?"

He felt like he should have been worried at the fact that Doc made it sound like he'd been watching Grian for far longer than Grian himself had known of Doc's existence. But. He wasn't. The strange creature had saved him, after all - protected him and provided him with food. That was more than could be said for any other living or undead being Grian had stumbled across during the past few months.

"Yeah," Grian answered, stretching out and letting out a satisfied noise when his spine popped, releasing the tension that had settled in it after sleeping on the unyielding stone floor of the cave. "I eat lots of things. Different vegetables, when I find any. Usually closer to villages. Some animals, too. I'm a decent hunter, and that's always a reliable food source. Cows, sheep, chickens, fish. Also, uh, some mushrooms, fruits... berries... yeah."

Grian realised that he'd kind of rambled on there, and he wasn't even sure if Doc was interested in the topic at all. After all, it didn't really affect or apply to him in any way, did it?

"Sorry, I kind of... went off on a tangent, there."

Doc surprised him by moving. Not much, just slightly leaning towards him, forcing Grian to meet his eyes. Grian blinked. Doc blinked back at him, before saying, "No sorry. I like learning. I told you this."

A giggle escaped Grian, who was feeling kind of lightheaded at the gaze burning into his own. "Okay, yeah. You did."

Doc kept their eyes locked together for a moment longer. When he finally broke the gaze, Grian let out the smallest sigh of relief.

  
  
  


Grian placed the wool back inside his backpack, and he pulled out some strips of dried salted meat he'd made sure to stock up on before venturing through the roofed forest he'd met Doc in. Now, more than ever, Grian was thankful for the abundance of apples that had grown in the forest, because it meant that he still had plenty of his non-expireables left.

Before closing his pack again, Grian caught sight of one of his spare sweaters and gave it a considering glance. Then, he pulled it out, before closing the lid and fastening the straps of the backpack, hoisting it up on his back. Grian grabbed the sweater from the cave floor and tied it around his waist before turning to Doc to tell him he was ready to leave, only to find Doc was already looking at him.

"What?"

Doc's head was slightly downturned, and though Grian couldn't tell where exactly his eyes where looking due to the lack of pupils, he quickly realised that Doc must be wondering about the addition to Grian's attire.

"Oh, that. It usually gets colder on the mountains, so I figured it'd be better to be safe than sorry."

"Oh," Doc nodded with understanding. Again, Grian was left reeling with how _human_ the motion was—

Doc continued, "Are you ready? To leave?"

"Yeah," Grian answered, stuffing the strips of meat into his pocket so he could easily snack on them on the road. "Let's go."

Gravel and stone crunched beneath Grian's shoes as he left the cave, Doc waiting for Grian to go first so he could follow.

The sunlight was even brighter, out in the open - but with a few quick blinks, Grian's eyes got used to it. It was a crisp, clear morning. No time to waste. So they began walking.

Even as the sun steadily rose, the heat of it didn't quite make it through Grian's clothes enough to warm him in the raw mountain air that slowly grew colder and colder the higher up they ventured. Something akin to a trail was showing the two of them up a winding, long-abandoned path. Grian couldn't help but wonder when was the last time a human had walked it. No answer came to him, neither from his own mind nor from the bare environment itself.

Grian's breathing was slightly panting with labour, while Doc remained as still and quiet as ever. The exertion - if it even was one, to him - went undetectable to Grian's senses.

They came upon a small stream, and they decided to take a break. It was a good way to eat and drink without having to take away from Grian's waterskins, after all.

"Do you reckon we'll stop at the first cave we find? Or should we keep pushing on until it's closer to night time?" Grian asked as he bit into the dried fish he'd taken out of his backpack.

Doc waited a bit before answering, seeming to consider it. "Find no caves yet, so we probably stop." Then, he corrected himself, gazing at Grian for confirmation, "Should stop?"

Grian nodded absentmindedly, thoughts already running ahead as he was thinking of the chances and probabilities of finding a cave as perfect as the one from the night before. "Yeah, should stop. And I think you're right. We better keep our eyes peeled, then." Grian looked up, and met Doc's eyes. "While we're still having a break - do you need anything? Like... to stay alive?"

Doc shook his head 'no'.

Grian's stomach churned, but he ignored it as he kept gazing steadily into Doc's eyes. "Okay. Just wanted to make sure."

Grian finished his meal and drank his fill from the creek, and the two of them kept walking. The plains were growing distant behind them, and whenever Grian caught sight of it when the path took a turn, he couldn't help but shudder. The plains had seemed so normal, so _safe_ during the day. But it really was a death-trap, wasn't it?

When the sun had passed it's half way point across the sky, Doc spoke up. "So. Creepers? You want to know?"

Grian stepped around a boulder that was blocking the path. He'd almost forgotten about Doc's promise to tell him about the monster that had attacked him. "Right, yes. Creepers. What are they?"

Doc followed Grian around the rock obstructing the path before answering. "They are monsters."

"Yeah, duh."

Doc paused, before continuing on as if he hadn't heard Grian's quip. Grian felt his lips quirk upwards with mirth, even as Doc began telling him about the creature that was less than fun.

"They come out at night, like other monsters. They blend in with forests. They like the damp."

Grian cut in, "And they make that hissing sound, right? The same one you did to scare it away?"

"They hiss," Doc confirmed, voice sounding out low and pleasant from behind Grian. "To warn when they are going to explode."

Grian stumbled, grin finally leaving his lips. "E-explode? Like, blow up? But how can a creature do that?!"

"They are monsters," was Doc's only reasoning.

Grian felt goosebumps work their way up his spine as he shuddered. Had he really been that close to a being that could have blown him up, before he'd even had the chance to turn around to see what was coming for him?

...and Doc had willingly stepped between Grian and that terrifying beast?

Doc continued while Grian's mind was racing. "And I did not scare. It. Scare it. I am not frightening to them. They are not scared."

Grian swallowed, not turning around to face Doc while asking, "Then... how did you make it leave us be?"

"I claimed you as. My prey. And it left."

Once again, Grian was struck with the realisation that he should feel terrified, and yet, he didn't. "But I'm not, am I," he said. It wasn't really a question.

Doc answered him anyway.

"No."

  
  
  


They found a cave sometime in the late afternoon. They still had a few hours of sunlight left, but like they'd decided earlier, they chose to stop for the night. Once again, Doc settled in the entrance of the cave, watching out for any curious monsters that might try to wander inside while Grian laid out the wool for his bed for the night.

Then, they delved into silence. It wasn't late enough for Grian to be able to sleep, and Doc didn't seem to be much for small-talk. Grian decided to voice that thought. It seemed to be as good of a topic as any.

"You don't say much, do you?"

Doc turned to look at where Grian was sitting criss-cross-applesauce on the bed. He replied, "I didn't... need to speak. Before you."

"Huh," Grian said. "How did you learn to speak, then? Or have you always known?"

"I listened to you," Doc said, the confession coming easily to him, despite the way it made Grian's heart speed up. "You do not say much, too."

"Either," Grian corrected. "You don't say much, either." His mind had already moved on, though. "And I... I guess you're right. I used to be told I talked too much, back when I was still living with other people." A sad smile spread upon his lips, not reaching his eyes. "I guess I've gotten used to the silence."

"Is that bad?" Doc asked him.

Grian looked into Doc's eyes, meeting the mismatched gaze of black and glowing red. "No," he said. "But I prefer having someone to talk to."

Doc hummed.

Grian pondered for a while, before getting up off the bed and walking over to join Doc at the lip of the cave. The sky was slowly turning from clear blue and into hues of pinks and oranges, the sun setting and making the heavens appear as if they'd caught aflame.

"...it's nice."

Grian blinked. He turned to face Doc once again, only to find the creature already looking at him. Grian asked, "What is?"

"This," came Doc's reply. "Words. The sky. Companions. You."

A true smile tugged at Grian's lips. His heart sped up again, but he couldn't tell which part of Doc's words had made it do so. "Yeah," he settled with saying. "I agree."

They turned back to watching the sunset. Slowly the moon peeked up over the faraway forest, and as the sky turned into a deep dark blue, it allowed the stars to begin peeking out in between black clouds that were floating by.

Grian shivered, and finally unwrapped the sweater from his waist and pulled it on. The night air was more biting, this far up. He was getting tired, too. It was almost time for him to sleep, he could tell. He'd need the restitution for the next day's climb.

And yet, the moment he and Doc were sharing didn't feel finished. Grian hesitated, before breaking the silence of the tranquil night.

"Are you human?" Grian asked, a repeat of his first conversation with Doc, back at the lake by the roofed forest, what seemed so long ago but was really only a few days.

"Does it matter?" Doc replied, shifting in his seated position until he could turn to face Grian more fully on.

Grian shrugged, and wrapped his arms around himself. He thought about it for a while, and then he smiled, and raised his face so he could direct it at Doc. "No," he murmured, feeling sleep growing ever closer. "I suppose it doesn't."

He yawned, and at Doc’s questioning glance, Grian stretched out his limbs before standing up. "I think it’s time for bed. Good night, Doc."

"Night, Grian."

Grian stood up and returned to his bed. He laid down on it before turning to his side so he could face Doc's still profile until his eyelids became too heavy to keep open. He fell into a deep sleep.

  
  
  


The next morning, Grian woke up cold.

He shivered, and wrapped the wools further around himself.

"Morning, Grian."

Grian rolled onto his side, towards Doc's voice. He was standing up, leaning against the cave entrance, back turned to the world outside as he faced Grian.

Grian squinted up at him, grumbling as he reluctantly sat up, pulling the wool with him. "Good morning. Blimey, it's cold."

Doc frowned. "Will you be... okay? Okay?"

"Yeah," Grian sighed. "I'm okay, just complaining. I always used to be more sensitive to cold in the morning. I thought I'd gotten over it after living outdoors for so long, but I guess the mountains are messing with me."

Doc gave a thoughtful hum. "Okay."

An exaggerated groan left Grian's mouth as he got up, letting the wool drift off of him as he embraced the chill. Immediately, he reached over to his backpack, pulling another pair of pants out and wiggling into them, putting them on top of the pair he was already wearing.

Without Doc needing to ask, Grian started narrating what he was doing. "I'm adding more layers. It's useful to keep the heat in and the cold out. It created insulation - it's the same reason why house walls usually have more than one layer. It traps the warm air in between."

"Ah."

They packed up and started walking. Grian munched on some salted mutton as he stumbled sleepily ahead.

  
  
  


The cold was becoming more prominent by their third day of climbing the mountain. Grian had taken to wearing as many of his clothes as he was able to fit on his body while still regaining enough mobility to continue the trek, just in order to keep warm.

Doc asked about his shivering at one point, but Grian had brushed him off. The tremors were to help humans stay warm, he'd told Doc. They weren't necessarily a sign of danger in and on itself—

And by midday, Grian had usually worked up enough of a sweat for him to be able to peel at least a few layers off, the shivers absent for a few minutes at a time. The nights grew rougher.

Grian kept drifting in and out of sleep, and every time he woke up, it was to the feeling of a bone-deep chill in his limbs. His exhales were visible in the form of steam escaping his lips, and in those moments, in between sleep, he'd deliriously feel bitter about the air that left his mouth, just moments after being heated up by his own body.

Doc remained silent during those nights.

On the third night, when Grian woke up, he found himself unable to fall back asleep. The shivers working their way through his body were too violent, too frantic - Grian's teeth were chattering, and the tension in his body was too great for him to be able to fall back into blessed unconsciousness.

"Why do you not sleep like before?"

Grian turned his neck until he could face Doc. Doc, who was seated by the wide opening of the shallow cave they called home for the night, back turned to it so he could gaze curiously at Grian's trembling frame, huddled beneath piles of wool and fabric.

Grian replied, and he hated how stuttering his words sounded—

"It's just t-the cold, Doc. T-there's nothing to be done about it except t-to keep on going until we've passed t-the mountain."

Doc hummed, and Grian could have sworn the sound bore a hint of frustration. He was probably too exhausted to tell.

They delved into silence, only broken by the sound of Grian's chattering teeth, until Grian finally faced the reality that he would not be falling back asleep any time soon. With a sigh, he sat up. His frozen limbs were protesting the movement, and Grian groaned when pins and needles started prickling at his palms and at the soles of his feet.

Then he heard another groan, echoing his own. Grian's neck snapped towards Doc—

Only to see a human-like silhouette stumble up behind Doc, silent but for the pained-sounding moan that had left it. Doc spun around, but the monster that had stumbled up to them was already upon him. A loud hiss escaped Doc's mouth, but the monster did not react to it. Grian realised with a start that the creature was not a creeper - in part from how it didn't respond to Doc's signal, and in part from how, according to Doc, if it _had_ been a creeper, the two of them would already be dead.

Doc yelled as he struggled beneath the weight of the monster. Grian did not think - he just lept towards the intermingled shapes that were struggling before him.

With a yell, Grian knocked his shoulder into the monster, which let out a gurgling moan as Grian's weight and momentum pushed it off of Doc. As it fell, Grian fell with it, and he crashed onto the monster for a second time.

For a moment, everything seemed to be frozen in time, as cold as the night air around them.

Grian's eyes met the monster's—

And it looked like _him._ Hair, eyes, a nose and a mouth. Ears. Skin. Human.

But it was all wrong, and Grian's stomach churned as his brain caught up to the details his eyes were barely picking up in the sparse lighting. The hair was falling out in lumps, the skin rotting off of the flesh, falling apart. Half of the nose was missing, as was half of one ear. And the mouth was gaping, stuck in a grimace of pain and hunger as the teeth snapped towards him.

The eyes were sunken in. The gaze was dead.

For a moment, Grian had had hope. But hope never led to anything. Time rushed back into motion as Grian's fingers curled around the rough edges of a rock, and he used it to bash the monster's face in, the decaying frame of the beast easily caving in beneath the stone.

With one last moan, the monster fell limp.

Grian unhanded the rock with numb fingers, before standing up on trembling legs. He turned back around to look at Doc. Grian might have been a bit out of it, but—

Was Doc okay?

He stumbled over to where Doc was working his way to his feet. Grian all but collapsed against him when he made his way over, hands fluttering over Doc's skin - in the back of his mind, he realised he'd never actually touched the man before - as he tried to feel for any damage done by the monster.

"Did it hurt you? A-are you okay? Gods, what _was_ that—"

Strong hands wrapped around Grian's biceps, stilling his panicked movements. "Grian. I am fine, don't worry."

Relief instantly made Grian's body slump, the adrenaline leaving him feeling exhausted and weak. "Oh, thank the stars."

"I am more worried. About you. Did it bite you?" Doc asked him, arms tightening as he essentially held Grian upright. Grian blinked at him, feeling confused and sleepy.

"Bite?"

"That was a zombie. They turn, humans, to. Into. Zombies. With their bite." Doc's eyes were locked onto Grian's. Grian marvelled for a moment in how, despite Doc's eyes being so different from any other person's he'd ever known, how _alive_ they were. How expressive. Doc continued, sounding _scared—_

"Tell me it did not bite. You."

And a question followed a realisation that sprung up in Grian's mind. Something he was too tired and spent to be quite able to focus on right now, but that he'd undoubtedly need to revisit at a time where he was in a better state of mind. When had he started caring so much for something that was not even human? And why did he not mind the fact that he did?

His mind quietly corrected itself. Not something. _Someone._ And it was _Doc._ He would always be special.

...Gods, Grian was tired.

"Please, Grian."

Oh right. He should probably answer. "It did not bite me. It didn't get to touch me at all, Doc. I'm fine. Just... tired."

Doc sunk down on himself, and he let out a shivering exhale not unlike how Grian himself was breathing. "Thank you."

"Can I sleep, now?"

"Yes, Grian. Go to sleep. I will watch over you until the morning."

Grian was barely conscious enough to realise how he made his way back to his makeshift bed, already falling asleep before his back hit the wools he'd abandoned previously.

The unblinking eyes of a zombie reflected the sight of a tall being helping a small human back into bed, pausing to tuck him in, before returning to his post of keeping digilant watch for any other of the night's creatures.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song rec: Infections of a Different Kind - AURORA


	4. I think I'm growing weary

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I don't think I'm going to make it."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so fuckin' sORRY—

~ * ~

Things didn’t change between the two of them after that night with the zombie… except for how it really kind of _did._ There was something in the glances Grian would send Doc’s way, only to find that Doc was already looking at him. Or maybe it was in the way Doc was more adamant in asking about Grian’s health and general well-being, wanting to know more about the needs and wants of humans. Or how Grian kept setting up his bed closer and closer to Doc’s back every single night.

Their conversations carried a different tone, as well. One night, after Grian woke up shivering after what felt like only seconds of rest, he grabbed his wools and huddled up to Doc before sitting down beside him to watch the sky.

It was a cloudy night, Grian noted with disappointment, and the heavens were dark and starless.

“Doc?”

“Yes, Grian?”

“I think of you as a person. And I was wondering what you consider yourself?”

The two of them stared into the darkness, a gust of wind whistling by the cave opening and creeping in between the layers of Grian’s clothes and the wools draped around him.

“I like that. And. I think I consider myself a person, too, now.”

Grian shivered, eyes still fruitlessly searching for a glimpse of light in the sky. “Then… what were you before?”

Doc thought about it for a moment, before replying, “Lost.”

Grian sighed, “Yeah, me too. I don’t think I was quite a person when I was all alone, either.”

They sat together in silence after that, until the sun started peeking up over the horizon. Grian never saw the stars that night, but in the end, he found that he didn’t mind it.

So yes. Something _had_ undoubtedly changed between them. No matter what it was, though, Grian found himself growing fonder of the man, and the only thing that put a damper on what would maybe be an exciting or possibly even frightening realisation at any other time, was how tired Grian was getting.

Each day it grew harder to leave the sparse comfort his bed provided him, his limbs cold and uncooperating. The nights seemed to pass by at a slower pace than usual, with Grian spending most of it awake, teeth chattering and arms wrapped around himself.

The two of them had passed by the ridge of the mountain pass, and the descent was slow going - but it was still progress. The altitude gave Grian the opportunity to scope out in which direction they could go once they reached the bottom, but the fact that it would be a few more days at least until they would be able to finally leave the dreadful mountain behind made something painful and heavy drape over his shoulders whenever Grian thought about it.

  
  
  


It was on what Grian thought was the fifth day after the incident with the zombie, the sun not yet having begun to set as him and Doc walked past the lip of a shallow cave that Doc had deemed safe enough for them to spend the night in, the opening small enough to easily guard, that Grian realised that he still hadn't regained his warmth properly after his last night’s attempt at sleep. Not even the rigorous activity some of the paths forced the two of them to do in order to cross had been enough to really chase out the chill that had settled deep in his bones—

And Grian realised what that meant.

"Doc," he said, voice void of emotion. He was so tired.

"Yes?"

"I…" He gulped. Somehow, Grian found that trying to form the words felt worse than the realisation itself had. The knowledge that he was no longer alone, and that if Grian was, infact, right, and he was going to— Then that meant he would be leaving Doc behind—

For some reason, the mental image of Doc, wandering alone - despite how that must have been how Doc used to live, back before he’d found Grian - and forever searching for that _something_ that neither of them had ever been able to find, but this time _alone,_ with no camaraderie or companionship to speak of… it hurt Grian deeply, even more so than the idea of his own passing did.

His vision blurred, and Grian’s voice was thick with emotion when he finally managed to speak.

“I don’t think I’m going to make it down the mountain. I’m sorry.”

“What do you mean. Not make it,” Doc asked, keeping carefully still as he searched Grian’s face. Surely he’d noticed the way Grian was tearing up, how his body was trembling with exhaustion and cold, how tired he was, barely able to stay on his feet despite the early hour. “Grian?”

“It means that,” Grian choked on a sob. It _hurt._ “That I’m going to die.”

The silence that filled the cave was heavy with pressure, and it felt to Grian like the very air around him was crushing him, pressing inwards and thundering behind his eardrums, making him sway on his feet. He raised numb hands to grab fistfuls of his own hair, a broken sob finally escaping him—

“No.”

Grian blinked through his tears, gaze locked onto the stone floor of the cave. “Doc,” he said, gently. “It’s okay.”

“No it’s not.”

Grian couldn’t bear to look at him. It’d surely break him completely. “But it _is._ I’ve been wandering for- for a _long time,_ okay? And I’ve always been alone. But then, I found you - or rather, you found me. And. And I _had_ someone again, for the first time since I lost _everyone._ So it’s okay.” Grian didn’t know where he found the strength to sound brave in that moment. He just knew that it wasn’t for his own sake, the same way his tears weren’t for himself, either.

“You will not die.”

Grian’s heart was breaking anyway, and he finally raised his gaze from the ground to face Doc.

And he looked… gods, Grian felt it like a physical ache beneath his ribcage. Doc looked like he was hurting more than Grian himself was. He looked like a devastated man, and though Grian knew that Doc wasn’t human, he didn’t look human, and Grian didn’t _care—_ in that moment, Doc - the strange, forest-like creature that had needed no sleep, no food, nothing external to survive at all, the being that felt no cold, who communicated with monsters and had learned words for Grian’s sake - he looked so _alive._

“I’m sorry,” Grian’s voice broke on the last word, and though Doc probably had no point of reference to actually understand Grian’s actions— When Grian reached out for him, Doc met him halfway.

Grian wrapped his arms around him, and without hesitation, Doc returned the gesture. Grian sobbed into his chest, and Doc was holding him so _tightly_ that it felt like the pressure of his arms around Grian was the only thing holding him together.

They stood like that, pressed together, with Grian shivering and crying in his arms, for a long time.

The sun was setting when Doc spoke next, his voice sounding unsteady in a way Grian hadn’t heard it since their first days together.

“There must. Be some, some thing. Something. I can do. Please, Grian. Anything.”

Grian sniffled. He was feeling even more tired than before after finally crying himself out, and in a strange way, he also felt sleepy. That was probably a bad sign, but he couldn’t find the spare energy to care. “I don’t know, Doc. I’m sorry.” He tilted his head up so he could meet Doc’s eyes. “Just… could we stay like this for a while longer?”

Doc frowned down at him, but his arms stayed put around Grian. “You need to try and sleep.”

“Join me, then.”

There was no hesitation to Doc’s agreement. “Okay.”

Grian was feeling faint and weak when he untangled himself from Doc’s arms to drape the wools out for them to sleep on, while Doc did his best to barricade the entrance of the cave. A few loose rocks and boulders were rolled into place - not enough to block the opening completely, but hopefully it’d make it hard for anything passing by their small hideout to get a line of sight to the two of them.

The moment the wools were placed, Grian collapsed down onto them with a sigh. He watched as Doc inspected the cave entrance, and then as Doc turned his back to it to make his way over to Grian.

Doc kneeled down beside him, and with a sleepy hum, Grian reached up to him and pulled him down before wrapping his arms around him as best as he could. Doc returned in kind by pulling Grian even closer, until Grian’s head was resting on Doc’s chest, feeling the heavy weight of arms around him, holding him close. The slight fuzz covering Doc’s skin did nothing to hide the way two heartbeats were beating off-time behind his ribs, and Grian closed his eyes as he listened to the strange sound.

As his world went dark, Grian’s last thought was that he was happy he got to experience this moment. He sent out a prayer to whichever deity that might be listening that Doc would be okay after Grian was gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song rec: Dear Fellow Traveler - Sea Wolf


	5. I request another dream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grian opened his eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I couldn't leave yall hanging for too long, so I powered through and wrote this as fast as my feral hands would let me.

~ * ~

A gentle rumbling noise was the first thing he took notice of. As it slowly faded into his existence, gradually being picked up by his awakening senses, the sound was accompanied by a muted vibration reverberating through the side of his face. Grian made a soft sound, and rubbed his face against it, pressing closer to the comforting feeling.

His limbs were wrapped around something - _someone,_ his sleepy mind was telling him - and it wasn’t quite warm, but it was still nowhere near the devastating cold that had been taking residence in his body for the past few days.

Grian opened his eyes.

Deep green like the forest, a fine layer of fuzz covering it. Beyond that, the grey stone of the small cave curving up around them.

The rumbling stopped, and Grian lifted his head from Doc’s chest to meet his eyes.

Doc was looking at him, expression gentle and strangely vulnerable. “You woke up.”

“Yes, I did,” Grian said, voice groggy with sleep, still, but his mind was gaining a clarity that it hadn’t possessed for days, his body finally having managed to sleep the night through.

“Thank you.”

Doc’s expression was still so open. The close proximity allowed Grian to take in the finer details of Doc’s eyes, how the black one that from a distance seemed to have no differentiation between the iris and the pupil actually _did -_ they were just so close in colour that it was easy to overlook.

Grian’s lips curled into a small smile as he stared into Doc’s eyes, gazing wonderingly between the dark and faintly glowing red one, before whispering, “Thank _you,_ for staying.”

“I would not leave,” Doc replied. “...I thought I would lose you. After this. You sounded so sure.”

“Yeah,” Grian finally broke the eye contact, resting his head back onto Doc’s chest. The dual heartbeats were like he remembered them, though as through a fever dream, from the previous night. It was soothing.

“What changed?”

Grian shrugged. “I’m not completely sure… but it might be your body heat? We’ve never really… touched, before, so I didn’t know that you’re warm blooded like me. I didn’t think clearly. But. The sharing of body heat is one way for humans to keep warm, or so I’ve been told.”

Doc hummed, and tightened his arms before repositioning them until Grian was draped fully on top of the taller man. Grian went willingly, and he responded with a pleased hum of his own at the way Doc’s body heat slowly started making its way through all the layers Grian was wearing.

“I think we should stay here for today. It is already late.”

“Yeah,” Grian sleepily murmured. “We can move on tomorrow. Today I just wanna sleep, I think.”

“Yes,” Doc replied. “But you should still eat.”

Grian grumbled, but when Doc’s arms retreated from around him, he still pushed himself up without verbalising his complaint. Doc was right, after all, and if they were to take a day for Grian to regain his strength after his near death experience, he’d better take it seriously. The mountain was still dangerous, after all, and Grian would rather not need to spend more time on it than necessary.

He sleepily crawled off of Doc’s lap, all Grian’s layers making him move clumsily when his body was still uncoordinated from his long rest, and a small shiver worked its way down his back where Doc’s arms had been before. A thought hit him while he was digging through his backpack for something to eat. He remembered something his mother had told him, long ago, when he was a kid, before the world had ended and Grian had been left alone.

_‘If you find yourself in the cold, and your friend falls asleep and their skin is cold to the touch, make sure to warm them back up again. Remove your clothes and make skin to skin contact, Grian, for it might save your friend’s life.’_

The memory was faded with time, and Grian had forgotten most of the finer details about how she used to be. The tone of her voice, soft and worried and patient, still echoed through his mind like it had been spoken out loud. It didn’t make him sad, like it had used to. The realisation filled him with comfort.

Back still turned to Doc, Grian spoke up. “Hey, Doc? I think I have an idea.”

“Oh?” Came Doc’s voice from behind him.

Grian grabbed a handful of dried mutton from his backpack before walking back over to Doc’s side. “Yeah. Mind moving over for a bit, please?”

Doc raised an eyebrow in question, but he did as Grian asked. Once the wools were no longer beneath him, Grian reached down with the hand that was not holding his food, and gathered the wools into a pile next to Doc before placing the mutton on top of the pile. “Are you still comfortable laying on the ground like that?”

“Yes?”

Grian nodded, “Good.” Then, Grian straightened back up and began removing his layers. He heard Doc protest beneath him while Grian’s head was covered by the fabric of his thickest pullover coat.

“Wait - will you not be cold?”

Once Grian’s face was free from the fabric, he answered while unbuttoning the fleece he was wearing beneath the coat. “I think this will make sharing body heat more efficient. And if it doesn’t work, I could always put my clothes back on again.”

Doc looked uncertain, but he didn’t protest when Grian shrugged the fleece off of his shoulders.

Grian made quick work of the rest of his layers, until he was left in a thin woolen undershirt and pants that he’d worn as his base layer to keep warm. The cold air in the cave seeped through the thin fabric with ease, and Grian’s shivering returned, though it was still merely surface level. It couldn’t be compared to how chilled he’d been just the night before, where his limbs had gone numb and exhaustion, a bone-deep weariness having gotten comfortable at the back of his neck, threatening to drag him under.

Grian spread most of his clothes out to form a sorry impression of a mattress, before beckoning Doc over to lay on top of them. Even if Doc didn’t need it, Grian felt too bad to let the man rest directly on the unforgiving stone flooring of the cave. Even if Doc did not feel cold, it still couldn’t be comfortable. Besides, maybe the clothes would be warm come morning, when Grian would redress in them once more.

Doc’s lips tugged at the corner, but he followed Grian’s directions and laid down on top of the pile of fabrics Grian had strewn out.

Satisfied and sick of standing so bare to face the chill, Grian grabbed the fleece jacket and his scarf, before crawling on top of Doc once more. Doc’s arms wrapped around his midsection, and Grian maneuvered around until he’d wrapped the jacket on top of them both, before reaching over and grabbing the previously discarded wool.

Doc’s hands left Grian’s waist, and he blinked up at the taller man when Doc grabbed the wool from Grian’s hands, and, with a smile, he started draping it across the two of them, effectively trapping the heat the two of them were generating in between the layers.

It took some wriggling and moving about, but soon none of Grian’s skin below his neck was exposed to the rigid mountain air, and Doc’s arms were resting at the small of his back once more. Grian sighed contently, and let his cheek rest on Doc’s chest.

And for the first time in a long while, Grian felt truly _warm._ He let out another sigh of bliss, and he burrowed even further into Doc’s embrace, wriggling his fingers in between Doc’s arms and his sides and hooking his toes around each of Doc’s lower legs, trying to borrow as much of the man’s heat as possible.

“Comfortable?” Doc rumbled, humour evident in his tone. Grian still thought he could detect just the tiniest hint of worry in it, still, so he hurried to reassure him.

“Very,” Grian murmured, before asking, “And you?”

“Yes.”

“Good,” Grian said before closing his eyes and just… revelling in the blissful warmth.

After a while, Doc reminded him that he’d yet to eat, and Grian kept from complaining about being roused from his rest only for the fact that Doc didn’t make him move while Grian ate.

The next day, they moved on. While Grian had gotten dressed, (and his clothes _had_ been warm from Doc laying on them all night,) Doc rolled the wools up before placing them into Grian’s backpack. Grian thanked him with a smile when Doc handed him the shabbily closed pack by one of the shoulder straps.

They had followed the path a bit further down, when the trail started sloping slightly to the side. Grian paused in his step, feeling strangely hesitant about moving forwards. He didn’t feel any reluctance about leaving the mountain itself behind, nor any ill-feelings about the path ahead, it was just…

He shot a look over his shoulder, towards where the cave he and Doc had spent the past nights in. Something strange was tugging at his chest, a longing for something that he felt like he’d _almost_ found back there, at the cave—

“Grian?”

Doc’s voice snapped Grian out of his thoughts and back to himself. “Yes, sorry, I spaced out, there. Let’s keep moving.”

  
  
  


The days were long and tiresome as they slowly trekked down the mountain. The descent was a lot tougher on Grian’s legs than the climb up the mountain had been, and so they took frequent breaks that Grian hated to ask for, despite how Doc never questioned nor complained when Grian did so.

The nights, however, had become Grian’s favourite time of day. The two of them had kept up on their new bedtime routine - the transition had happened seamlessly after they had left the cave after Grian’s recovery. Neither party questioning it, nor how easy the change had come to them.

After finding a cave suitable for spending the night, Grian would help Doc as best as he could with barricading the entryway enough for it to make line of sight hard from the outside, Grian would undress down to his woolen layer, they’d spread out his clothes together, and Doc would lay down on top of them, before opening his arms in invitation for Grian to join him.

Doc would tuck the wools around them both once Grian had gotten settled in on top of him, and then, the warm, steady weight of Doc’s arms and the soothing beat of his two hearts would lull Grian to sleep.

The early mornings brought new conversations, and Grian treasured the fact that he got to _have_ this, that the fates or the gods or whichever powers that might have been— that it had decided to be merciful, to allow the two of them to keep on going together instead of leaving Doc to wander the world alone.

Grian woke to Doc’s chest rumbling like it had before, the vibrations quietly soothing in a way that felt like safety, like comfort. There was no real noise accompanying the action, but Grian still sighed softly and pressed his ear to Doc’s chest to try and make out the sound.

However, when he moved, the sound stopped. Doc’s hands paused in their movements, and Grian only realised they had been tracing patterns on the small of his back when the movement ceased. “Good morning,” Doc murmured.

Grian replied without moving. He was feeling too comfortable to lift his head from it’s rested position - and besides, Doc’s voice sounded nice against his ear pressed to the taller man’s chest. “Morning, Doc.”

“How did you sleep?”

Grian yawned, before giggling softly at his own actions. “Very well, thank you. How was your night?”

Doc hummed, and Grian caught a faint trace of the same rumbling from before returning with the action—

“It was… nice. I like holding you.”

Grian’s heart felt like it stopped, his breath catching in his throat, before his pulse rushed through him at double the time, matching the rhythm of Doc’s dual heartbeats calmly thumping against Grian’s ear, still pressed to Doc’s chest.

“O-oh,” he said. His face felt warm, despite how it was the only part of him not currently beneath the wools they’d used as blankets. “Me, too,” Grian quietly confessed, feeling strangely bashful.

Doc hummed again, and this time, Grian was certain he caught the rumbling returning with the sound. “I’m glad.”

They laid like that for a little while longer, Grian listening to Doc’s heartbeats while the taller man slowly resumed his soothing motion, thumb caressing the small of Grian’s back. At one point, the digit caught on the hem of his shirt, and Grian released a gentle sigh when Doc let his thumb slip underneath the fabric, dragging over his bare skin.

The strange rumbling returned, and Grian was fascinated by it. It almost reminded him of the purr of the cats that used to live back at the village, when he’d pet them beneath their chins or scratched their ears. They’d butt their little faces up to meet him, and the by now familiar vibrations reverberating through the small creatures had shown him that they were content and happy.

Grian felt reluctant about moving. If he’d had the choice, he’d much rather stay put like this - Doc’s arms around him, their skin warm and comfortable, soothing rumbles vibrating through him and making him sleepy.

He knew they’d have to get up, though. Grian’s nonperishables would not last him forever.

...but for now, he’d stay. Just for a little while longer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song rec: I Need a Forest Fire - James Blake, Bon Iver


	6. I'm up in the woods

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “What do you want to do now?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woop woop, Tuna back at it again with a fic I haven't touched in four months. Hope y'all enjoy^^

~ * ~

They finally reached the foot of the mountain, but Grian was not as happy about it as he would have imagined himself to be, after all the things that had almost gone wrong during their hike over it.

For some reason, despite how sparse and desolate it had been in everything but monsters and cold, Grian could not help but to think of the mountain with a somber sort of fondness that had everything to do with the man that was currently walking behind him, like Doc had taken to doing during their trek.

“Hey, Doc?” Grian asked, tilting his face so he could direct his voice over his shoulder while still keeping his eyes on the birch forest ahead of them.

“Yes?”

“What do you want to do now?”

There was a pause, before Doc’s voice sounded from behind him. “What… do you mean?”

Grian swallowed around the way his mouth suddenly grew dry, before answering. “I mean, like… right now, we need to find shelter, and I need to hunt or gather some more food to restock my supplies. But. I was thinking about… after that. More… long term, I guess? What would you want to do?”

Doc’s footsteps were no longer audible, so Grian paused in his step and turned around to face the other man uncertainly.

Doc looked confused. “What is there to do?”

Grian blinked, suddenly feeling like he was about to start crying, but he didn’t know _why—_

Doc continued, “We walk? What else is there?”

Grian felt lost. He mentally berated himself for his own stupidity, because he did not even know what he had wanted Doc to say - for really, what else _was_ there? Which other options were truly available to them? He spun around to face away from Doc, feeling ashamed at the burn of tears in his eyes.

“Nothing. Please forget I asked. Let’s keep looking for shelter.” He started walking without waiting for Doc’s reply.

After a few moments, the sound of footsteps behind him returned, telling Grian that Doc was following him once more. Then, Doc said, “Grian… I—”

“It’s okay, Doc, I don’t even know why I asked. I guess I’m just tired.”

“...if you’re sure.”

Grian didn’t reply. He told himself it was because he was focusing on picking out a clear path through the trees.

That night, after picking out a tree for Grian to climb up in to make his bed for the night, as well as managing to corner a wild boar that Grian had made quick work of parting into pieces of meat for the next few days, roasted while it was still light out, and the cuts of meat that he’d left to dry in the smoke of the campfire overnight, better suited for long term storage, the two of them fell into a silence that was not as comfortable as Grian would like.

His strange behaviour earlier was still resting heavily in the air between them, and Grian did not know how to fix it. Doc rested his back against the trunk of the tree Grian was meant to spend the night in, and when dusk was quickly turning into night, Grian stood up from where he’d been seated on the grass.

Before moving to climb up the low-hanging branches, however, he paused. He stood hesitatingly before Doc. There were so many things he wanted to say in that moment, but Grian failed to find the words to vocalise even a single one of them.

Doc was looking up at him, and Grian found himself trembling beneath the gaze, rooted to the ground by the weight of his thoughts as Doc seemed to be waiting for Grian to act.

When his lips finally parted, though, the words that left him were simply, “...good night, Doc.”

_Coward._

Doc blinked at him, slowly, before answering in kind. “Good night.”

Grian looked at Doc for another few seconds, before he walked to the man’s side and started climbing up the tree.

As Grian prepared his small nook for sleeping, he couldn’t help but to let his mind drift back to the mountain. The nights he’d spent in Doc’s arms, feeling his warmth, and his steady hands, moving gently over Grian’s back. The sound of twin heartbeats, the comforting vibration reverberating from Doc’s chest lulling Grian to sleep.

Being back to how things used to be _(alone,_ despite how he knew, he _knew_ that Doc was merely a few feet away—) felt… wrong.

Once the makeshift bed was ready, Grian laid down and tried to get comfortable. It wasn’t easy - the weeks spent on the mountain had gotten Grian used to the comfort of being able to stretch out fully without risking to fall down, and so he kept shifting and turning until the stars were up and the moon was hanging heavy in the dark sky.

Then, Doc’s voice drifted up to him from the base of the tree, and Grian halted in his squirming. “Hey, Grian?”

Grian laid still, before hesitatingly whispering, “Yes?”

“I’ll have to think. About what you asked. I have never been asked about… plans. Before.”

Grian’s heartbeat stuttered in his chest. “O-oh.”

The two of them lapsed into silence once more, this time feeling loaded, yet… comfortable. Familiar. Grian felt himself relaxing into his wools that were laid out on his little nook in between branches. “Good night, then.”

“Good night, Grian.”

  
  
  


Grian had managed to get some rest during the night, but he’d kept startling back into consciousness, heartbeat racing in the wake of a dream that his mind could not recall but that his body seemed to remember. Thus, he was not as well rested as he could have been, but he’d definitely had worse.

After packing his bed up and making his way down the tree, Doc was already standing up, waiting to greet him with an offering of a bright red apple. The familiar sight of it made Grian’s heart clench - the way it brought him back to his and Doc’s first few encounters, and how it made his breath catch with emotion—

“For you,” Doc said, shuffling his feet. “Did you sleep well?”

Grian felt his face grow warm. “I- Thank you.” He accepted the apple, but he didn’t start eating. “I was dreaming about something, unfortunately. It kept waking me up.”

Doc frowned down at him. “I see. Should we keep walking today, then? Or—”

Grian interrupted Doc before he could finish his sentence. “Yeah, no, let’s keep moving. Birch trees are not as comfortable as I remember them to be, so I’d rather see if we could leave the mountain and this forest behind us today.”

Doc gave him a considering glance, before nodding. “Okay.”

They started walking after Grian had packed up the meats and refilled his waterskins in the creek that ran through the forest. This time, Grian felt no need to look back. He might have told Doc that the birch trees had not been to Grian’s tastes when it came to choices of sleeping quarters, but the truth was this;

Grian already missed him and Doc being able to spend the nights on equal grounding. What Grian really minded was the fact that, to him, it felt so _wrong_ to leave Doc on the forest floor, unprotected from the forces of nature and monsters, while Grian himself was hiding within the canopy above.

When an abandoned village came into view as they neared the edge of the forest, Grian did something he’d never wanted nor dared to do while he was still travelling alone.

“Oh, look - that’s perfect. Let’s take one of the houses as shelter for the night. There might even be a proper bed, or some resources left over from when there were still people living here!”

“There might also be monsters. There usually are.”

Grian had been smiling as he spoke, but now his expression faltered. He shook his head quickly before plastering the wide smile back on his face. He called out over his back to where Doc was walking, “We’ll stay inside. Barricade the doors and everything, just like on the mountain, yeah?”

Doc hummed noncommittally, but he didn’t protest as Grian led them closer to the rundown structures of stone and oak.

The village was abandoned, and sticky cobwebs were filling in the gaps made in doorways and windows and walls from where monsters and age had picked the buildings apart.

Still, luck seemed to be on their side. They managed to find a house with minimal damage, and when Grian pulled out his axe before hacking down the decayed wooden door, the only thing that met them on the other side was darkness and dust. No monsters waiting to ambush them.

“Oh, this is great,” Grian said, relieved. “The walls are still whole, and there even is a bed. We’ll only need to barricade the door, and then we’ll be set.”

Doc had been silent for some time, but after looking past the doorway and inspecting the modest interior, he said, “I’ll get something to block up the… entrance. For the night.”

Grian nodded. “You do that.”

While Doc went to find something for the barricade, Grian took off his backpack and placed it to the side, before walking over to the bed. He was excited at the prospect of sleeping on an actual mattress again, for the first time since he’d left his own village, so long ago.

The layer of dust on it was not enough to deter him, and Grian removed the sheets and pillow before flipping the mattress around. No sheets were better than grimy sheets. He then removed and turned the linings for the duvet and pillow inside out as well, and what he was left with was a decently presentable bed. Grian beamed, and he heard the creaking of floorboards behind him.

He turned around to greet Doc, to show him what he’d done.

It wasn’t Doc that stood in the doorway.

At first, he saw nothing at all.

Then, movement caught his eyes, and Grian’s brain didn’t catch up to the small stature and distantly familiar outline of the creature - his heart was already racing just from the unexpected sight. When he caught up with his senses, Grian’s knees were buckling in relief. Gods, that had scared him _way_ too much—

The creature meowed at him. The small tabby cat softly padded into the room, curiously looking around.

Grian made a small sound in response, still feeling breathless and dizzy with the sudden burst of adrenaline that had rushed through him at the sight of something that was _not Doc._ The cat was looking at him with dark eyes, and when Grian reached out a trembling hand, the cat darted over to him, butting its back and bum up into his waiting palm, purring happily as it dragged its soft fur against his skin.

He watched the small display of contentment with a feeling of awe. He hadn’t seen cats since his own village, so long ago. He hadn’t thought there’d be any left, after all the villages became abandoned—

He was snapped out of his own thoughts by a hiss. The sound had not come from the cat, which was still purring happily beneath his hand - and Grian turned his head towards the noise to find Doc staring from the doorway.

“Doc! Look - I can’t believe it! There’s a cat here,” Grian said, voice excited but keeping his tone low, so as not to startle the cat.

Doc’s eyes were wide open, and he was staring intently at the furry creature rubbing itself against Grian. He seemed tense. He hissed again, before managing to sputter out, “I don’t. Like. That creature.”

Grian blinked, before stifling a giggle. He picked the cat up and got to his feet. The tabby meowed at the movements, and Doc hissed at it in response. Grian’s laughter escaped him.

“You’re not a cat person then, I take it?” He said from between peals of laughter.

“No,” Doc deadpanned.

Grian noticed how genuinely uncomfortable Doc seemed to be, and his smile softened as his giggles quieted down. Slowly, he approached Doc with the cat still held in his arms. Doc remained frozen, eyes locked on the tabby.

“It’s harmless though, see? It probably missed people, just the same as you and I did.”

Doc’s shoulders were drawn up high, and he seemed to be trying to contain his hissing noises - voice slightly slurred when he said, “I did not have people. To miss. Before you.”

“But you were lonely,” Grian shot back.

“...yes,” Doc admitted, shoulders finally slumping.

Grian felt his heart give a squeeze in his chest. “I’ll put the cat outside for the night. It should be safe enough, seeing as it has survived for this long.”

Despite Doc’s apparent dislike for the small creature, he still hesitated where Grian had expected him to be happy with the choice. “Are. You sure?”

Grian nodded. “Cats are survivalists. It will come back to us in the morning if it feels like it, and we can decide what to do with it then. I like cats, but… well, they aren’t suited for the road. And I don’t want to make you uncomfortable,” Grian said with a shrug.

Doc’s expression softened, though his body remained tense until Grian had stepped outside and gently placed the cat down on the grass. It chirped at him, before darting off with a flick of its tail.

Grian watched the small creature until it had disappeared around the corner of a building, venturing out of sight. The width of his smile was making his cheeks ache, and by the time he’d walked back inside the small house, Grian still felt that bright, fluttering sensation in his chest. Lighthearted happiness, Grian mused as he gazed up at Doc, watching as the taller man started barricading the doorway with the pieces of wood and scraps of metal he’d found around the village.

He didn’t realise he was still smiling by the time Doc had finished, not until the other man pointed it out.

“You are happy.”

Grian blinked, and if anything, he felt his cheeks grow warmer as his smile widened even further. “Am I?”

Doc huffed at him. “Yes?”

“I guess I am,” Grian chuckled, walking over to the bed before sitting down at the edge of it. He pet the mattress next to him, and asked, “Join me?”

Doc frowned at him. “Are you still cold?”

“No—” Grian’s smile was falling, but that light feeling in his chest hadn’t left him, and he clung to it, letting it fill him with bravery. “I just want to sit by you. Is that okay?”

The room grew silent.

Doc blinked, eyelashes fluttering with the quick succession of the movements. Then, his lips parted, sharp teeth peeking through—

“Yes.”

Slowly, Doc made his way across the room until he could sink down on the mattress by Grian’s side. Grian hummed, and let himself move with the shift of Doc’s added weight, scooting closer until their thighs were pressed together. Doc released a deep breath, and slowly relaxed until his back met the wall behind them. Grian followed.

They clumsily rearranged themselves until Grian’s head was leaning on Doc’s shoulder, the two of them seated side by side. Neither of them spoke as they slowly watched the last daylight disappear from between the cracks in the walls, the village growing darker as night time fell.

He didn’t know how much time had passed when Doc spoke, and he had no need to find out. Grian was so content, in that moment, simply sharing his space with the other man.

“Should you not sleep?”

Grian shrugged. “Not tired yet.”

“Oh,” Doc replied. Then, “Do you want to, to talk?”

He felt his breath catch, but it wasn’t from fear. Grian felt nervous, yes, but also _excited._ He didn’t know why. “Yes,” he breathed out, still facing the barricaded doorway, not turning his head to look Doc’s way.

“I have thought about what you asked. Me.”

Grian’s heart was pounding against his ribcage. When had it picked up speed?

Doc continued, hesitatingly, “And I think I have an answer. But it might not, be, any good.”

“Tell me,” Grian said, voice barely louder than a whisper.

“I would like to stay.” Grian felt like the ground had dropped away from beneath him, like he was falling, and yet, he did not fear the inevitable collision that would await him when he hit the inevitable bottom of the pit— “With you. And, I want to hold you again. Want you to stay safe. That is what I want,” Doc concluded, slumping down slightly on the bed.

Grian breathed, feeling slightly light-headed.

“I don’t know,” Grian started saying, “the path to achieving all of that. But,” he continued, finally turning his head until he could capture Doc’s gaze. The other man was looking at him - he _always_ seemed to be looking at him - and his expression was so vulnerable. Open, trusting, _warm—_ “we can figure it out. I _want_ to figure it out. And we will.”

  
Slowly, Grian felt Doc move against him, until one of the other man’s arms could reach around and drape over Grian’s shoulders, gently pulling him tighter to Doc’s side. Grian fell into the half-embrace without hesitation, accepting the touch, the closeness, like a drowning man would accept fresh air into his lungs. Desperately, grateful, _alive._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song rec: Woods - Bon Iver


	7. Empty house

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “What if…” Grian bit his lip. The words felt scary to even say out loud, but the feeling of home - because that was what it was, wasn’t it? - gave him enough courage to speak up. “What if we settled down somewhere?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow - local fish, actually wrapping up a story? More likely than you'd think! Only the epilogue to go :>
> 
> Enjoy!

~ * ~

Grian startled awake to the sound of something scattering over the roof.

He couldn’t remember falling asleep, and the daze of slumber made his mind slow and eyelids heavy as he gasped, struggling to sit up against the weight that was holding him down.

When a deep murmur sounded against his ear, warm breath brushing over his skin, his body instinctively relaxed. “It is okay, Grian. They cannot find their way inside. We are safe.”

A faint tremor was working its way through his heavy limbs as he fell lax in Doc’s arms - and now, that he was slowly waking up further, he realised that  _ that  _ had been what was weighing him down, before. “Doc?” He asked, voice small. He wanted to hear the other man’s voice again. His brain wasn’t caught up to his senses yet, and Grian’s heart was still pounding from having startled back into consciousness.

Doc’s voice rumbled pleasantly against Grian’s back as the taller man replied, answering the unspoken question that was hanging in the air. “Spiders.”

Grian made a small sound. “How big are they, for me to be able to hear the sounds of them through the roof?”

The answer came quickly. “Too big.”

He shuddered, even as Doc continued by adding, “...but they will be harmless, in the morning. They sleep during the day. Hunt at night.”

“Oh,” Grian said, and though he knew that that was a good thing, it wasn’t quite enough to quell his fear when he could still hear the sounds of too many feet scattering across the roof directly above their heads. A thought struck him, then—

“Do they only live in villages?”

Doc’s arms tightened around him. “No. They also live in forests and caves.”

Grian blinked into the darkness of the room. He had never seen giant spiders before - and if there was anywhere Grian had spent quite the extensive amount of time wandering through, it was forests. “Which kinds of forests? I’ve never come across them before.”

“Roofed forests. They like the dark.”

He frowned as a slow realisation settled over him, and he squirmed around until he was lying chest-to-chest with the taller man on the bed. Grian folded his arms on Doc’s chest as he gazed up at the other man’s face. Though it was too dark for him to pick out Doc’s expression, he still felt better talking while facing the other man. Grian mulled his words over, before slowly stating, “We met in a roofed forest.”

Doc hummed beneath him, the gentle rumble of it trembling against Grian’s sternum. “We did.”

“And I never saw any spiders there.”

“No,” Doc agreed, peering down at the smaller man lying on top of him. “You didn’t.”

Slowly, a small smile spread over Grian’s face. “That was you, wasn’t it.” He didn’t say it like a question, because, really - it was obvious, was it not?

Doc’s hands were warm weights against the small of Grian’s back, soothing and comfortable. “It was.”

Grian let his eyes slip shut as he lowered his head until his cheek was pressed to Doc’s chest so he could listen to the dual beats of his hearts. “Thank you for keeping me safe.”

The arms tightened around him, and for a short moment, it took Grian’s breath away—

He fell back asleep to the feeling of Doc’s chest starting to rumble, that gentle, soothing vibration working its way through Grian’s limbs like a physical lullaby, easing him back under with the feeling of safety and  _ home,  _ even as the monsters crawled over the house they were sheltered in.

  
  
  


As Grian slept, he had a dream.

In his dream, he was walking alone in a forest, and there was no world outside of it. He was alone, and it was so quiet all around him - not even his own footsteps produced any sound.

The landscape never changed, and he never got any further - yet he kept on walking, despite the lack of progress.

He walked and walked and walked, even after his food diminished and his waterskins ran dry. Slowly, he withered away, day after unchanging day, until he was gone.

The forest remained the same, untouched by his fleeting existence.

  
  
  


Grian woke up with tears in his eyes and the tight feeling of a sob stuck in his throat.

The mattress was soft beneath him, but Grian wasn’t comforted by that fact - not when he had expected waking up to the feeling of Doc’s slow breathing underneath him. He sat up on the bed, gazing around the gently lit room, particles of dust visible against the sunlight peeking through the cracks in the walls.

The doorway had been cleared, and for a moment Grian wondered if he should be panicking - but then the soft sounds of gentle murmurs floated in on the mild morning breeze that drifted through the drafty house.

He walked outside, his socked feet padding quietly across the wooden floor of the small house until he could peek out through the doorway. He saw Doc, as expected, but Grian had to squint against the bright sunlight before he could catch sight of who - or rather,  _ what  _ \- Doc had been talking to.

Doc was crouched down beside the small porch, and though his broad shoulders were faintly trembling with tension, the man remained carefully still as he held an outstretched hand in offering towards the small tabby cat from the evening before.

Grian burst out laughing when he saw what was in Doc’s hand.

“Are you trying to give it an apple, Doc?”

Doc’s shoulders drew up towards his ears, and he slowly looked back over his shoulder to frown Grian’s way. “Yes. It might be hungry. And though I do not like it, at least it is not trying to harm us. So I thought it would be good to offer.”

Grian’s laughter quieted down into gentle chuckles as he went back into the house until he could grab his backpack.

He returned to Doc’s side, and sat down on the floorboards of the small porch next to the taller man, before Grian started digging through his backpack as he explained. “Cats don’t really eat fruits - if you want to feed it, you need to offer it meat, preferably fish. I think I still have some dried cod— Ah, here,” Grian said, voice triumphant, as he handed a strip of dried fish to the other man.

Doc accepted it carefully, before turning back towards the tabby cat.

This time, when Doc reached out his hand with the small offering of food, the cat darted over to sniff at his palm.

Doc startled at the cat’s fast movements - and the tabby bolted away, fish forgotten.

Grian managed to hold his laughter, but only because of the trembling breath Doc let out as his shoulders slowly relaxed after tensing up. “It does not… like me.”

“I think it likes you just fine,” Grian mildly explained. “You just startled it when it startled you, is all.”

Doc made a contemplative noise, and he sounded so serious that Grian couldn’t help the chuckle escaping him.

“Why are you. Laughing?”

“I just think it’s sweet, that you’re so worried about it.”

Doc hummed. “Sweet.”

“Yep,” Grian nodded, and Doc finally stood back up and turned to face him. Grian met his gaze, and found his own expression softening as he added, “I always used to love cats, you know? I fed the cats of my childhood village regularly. Enough to annoy some of the adults, back when I was a kid.”

“Kid?” Doc asked him, and Grian smiled as he explained.

“You know, younger humans? They—” He foundered a bit, realising that if Grian was the first human Doc had ever stumbled upon, the other man would have no frame of reference for the differences between the young and the old, “Um. They’re smaller? Like with baby animals. And then we grow up and become adults.”

Doc frowned, and turned to look towards where the cat had run off. “Will the cat grow big? Is it a baby?”

“No,” Grian giggled, “That’s as big as they get. When cats are babies, they are even smaller.”

“But it is already so little?”

Grian nodded, “They are.”

Doc turned back to look at him. He seemed contemplative. “How strange.”

He hummed his agreement, before turning back to face the doorway of the small house.

It was still early. They should keep walking - but again, like when they had been leaving the mountain behind them, Grian found himself hesitating. There was something there, he figured, as he tried to work out where his reluctance to leave came from. Something about being able to spend the night behind a barrier of protection, something like a door to close that would keep the darkness and monsters away.

There was something about the safety he felt when Doc was beside him, within arms reach - if not actually touching him.

As Grian looked at the house, he could hear Doc moving around behind him. Slowly, Grian parted his lips, still considering the building as he asked, “Hey… Doc?”

“Hmm?”

“What if…” Grian bit his lip. The words felt scary to even say out loud, but the feeling of  _ home  _ \- because that was what it was, wasn’t it? - gave him enough courage to speak up. “What if we settled down somewhere?”

When Doc didn’t answer, Grian turned around to face him. He looked… confused, but not upset. That was something.

“Settle down? Here?”

Grian immediately shook his head. “No, not… not here. I don’t like how exposed it is, or the monsters that seem to have taken up residency over the empty buildings, but… somewhere?”

“Are we not searching, Grian?”

Doc’s voice was soft. Gentle.

“I think we are, but… I don’t think we’ll find anything out there. I can only speak for myself, but—” He took a deep breath. “—but I think what I, at least, was looking for was to not be alone. You found me. I am not alone anymore. And… I think that might be enough for me to be happy. If you feel the same, I'd be happy to stop searching. To build something of our own, to create a space for us, rather than to look for it without knowing if it even exists out there.”

“You asked me what. I wanted. I already told you. The same is true for me as well.”

Grian took a step forward. “We could build a house somewhere. Somewhere more safe than here.”

He felt breathless, and almost giddy. Like they were conspiring against the rules, and the feeling only magnified when Doc took a step towards him in turn, murmuring back, “It would have to be solid. Strong door. No monsters can come inside.”

“I was training to be a builder when the world ended,” Grian added. “I could make it safe.”

Doc asked, a small smile grazing his lips, and oh, if Grian’s heart didn’t speed up at the sight of it—

“Food?”

Grian’s thoughts were spinning, the dream of a house - a  _ home  _ \- already solidifying. “We could have a garden. Grow our own food. Hunt as well, or maybe even fish, if we settle down by a river or ocean.”

Doc took a deep breath, and another step forward. “And I can stay with you there?”

“If you didn’t, I wouldn’t wanna do it.” They were standing almost toe to toe, now. Grian’s face was tilted back, looking up at the other man with excitement.

“We would not be lost,” Doc said, and that—

If Grian’s smile went a bit watery at that, there were only the two of them to see it.

  
“We’d be  _ home.” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song rec: Little talks - Of Monsters and Men


	8. I've come home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They were home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's a wrap! I could have kept adding more parts to this, but I'd always meant to keep this fic short and sweet. I hope y'all are happy with it, and I'm sorry to have kept you guys waiting. Love and appreciate you all.
> 
> Enjoy!

~ * ~

Grian tightened his grip on the bundle of wheat he was holding out in front of him. “There we go, easy does it… here, Bessy Bessy Bessy.”

The cow mooed at him, her kind, brown eyes watching Grian steadily as he led her back towards the pen.

He took another step back, and the cow followed him, tail whipping as she sniffed curiously his direction.

Before long, he’d managed to lead the cow all the way back to the pen, and as Doc closed the gate behind them, Grian finally let the cow - Bessy, that was what he was going to name her - eat the stalks of hay out of his palm, his other hand coming up to gently stroke the soft fur of her neck as she ate.

“Were there more?” Doc asked him, voice calm as he watched Grian over the fence.

Grian looked up to face him, a small smile still pulling at his lips. “No. I think we’ve got enough to last us a good long while, anyway - it should be fine. How’s the garden?”

“It is nice. I think the potatoes will be big enough to harvest soon.”

As Bessy finished her snack, Grian wiped his hand off on his trousers, before climbing the fence to join Doc on the other side of it. “That’s good! Do we still have enough fish to leave out for the cats? I don’t think there’s enough time to go to the lake today, and my snares were empty when I checked them.”

“There is enough for you and the cats both. I checked.”

“Good, good,” Grian sighed, letting his shoulders relax. He looked up to meet Doc’s eyes, taking in the warm expression and easy lilt of his mouth. “You seem happy.”

Doc hummed. “I am. I found something strange in the forest earlier, and I think you will like it. It is waiting in the kitchen.”

“Oh?” Grian smiled, letting Doc place a hand at the small of his back to guide him towards the front door. “A surprise! How exciting.”

As Grian opened the door, he heard quiet voices speaking in nervous tones. He shot a glance Doc’s way, mouthing ‘another one?’, to which Doc nodded. Grian took a deep breath, and stepped into the kitchen. The two men that had been talking went quiet as their heads snapped up to look at them as Grian and Doc made their way into the room.

“He wasn’t lying,” the taller one mumbled. His voice was slightly raspy, and Grian took in his blond hair and the scrape on his chin.

“I told you I had a feeling,” the other man replied, pale blond curls framing a tanned face with gentle features.

Grian turned to Doc. “Put on some water for tea, will you?”

“On it,” Doc said, stepping around him as he made his way over to the clay furnace.

Finally, Grian turned to face the two strangers, who were watching him with weary eyes. “Hello. My name is Grian - and you’ve already met Doc. What’s your names?”

“I’m Zedaph,” the smaller man replied, before gesturing to the other one with a nod, “and this is Tango. We… didn’t know what to expect, when… he… approached us. Tango thought he was a creeper at first.”

Grian nodded slowly, “I get the similarities… but Doc is a person, like us. He’s saved my life many times - and I’ve saved his. You have no reason to be afraid of him.”

The taller man - Tango - scowled a bit, but he seemed more confused than truly angry. “There’s always reason to be afraid… but he told the truth about you, so I’m willing to hear you both out. He said you’d want to tell us something, right?”

Grian nodded again, before pulling out a chair by the kitchen table, joining the two men while Doc set the water to a boil.

“Right. You guys are not the first travellers to stumble upon our home, you know.”

Zedaph’s eyes widened. “There are others? We haven’t seen anyone since…” he trailed off, and Grian saw the haunted expressions in both of their eyes.

“I think I get it. It was the same with me. Doc found me, and we helped each other out. We were tired of wandering, so we decided to settle down here, and we haven’t looked back since. Let me tell you that the first time a person came knocking on the door, I thought I’d lost my mind - but it turns out that there’s still people out there, searching for a place to call home after everything went down.”

Tango nodded along as Grian spoke, while Zedaph listened with wide eyes, seemingly hanging on to every word.

“What happened to them? The others?” Tango asked. The man startled when Doc placed the wooden cup in front of him, before reaching over to offer another mug to Zedaph, who accepted it with a smile.

Doc was the one to answer Tango’s question, voice soft as he replied, “Some of them decided to keep searching. They were still looking for certain people, or, they did not feel safe around me.” Grian reached out to catch Doc’s hand in his own, carefully pulling the man down to sit in the chair next to him. He could feel Tango’s gaze on their hands, but he didn’t pay it any mind as Doc kept talking. “But most of them liked the idea of… this. Settling down.”

“There are others, if you continue walking the path around the forest,” Grian added. “It’s newer than the one going through it, and when you reach the valley by the lake, you can’t miss it.”

“What of the monsters?” Tango asked.

“The houses there are strong. Heavy doors that the monsters can’t break down, and they all take precautions at night. It’s not ideal, but it’s the best people can do. Better than sleeping in the forest, where the monsters are active at night and might get to you, that’s for sure,” Grian said, and he saw the dark looks Zedaph and Tango exchanged.

“We know,” Zedaph said, before slowly meeting Doc’s eyes, his gaze flickering for a moment between him and Grian. “Are there more people like you there?”

Doc was the one to reply, having grown used to the questions over the years. “Not everyone there looks like you, no. But they’re all good people.”

“Why aren’t you living with them all, if they’re so great?” Tango shot back, clearly still distrustful. Grian couldn’t blame him.

“To pick up on people like you,” Grian simply said, and he could see the truth in his words sinking in. “Someone needs to find those who are wandering. We’re happy here, and you’re more than welcome to head for the village. If you decide to settle down, tell Impulse that we sent you. He’ll be happy to house you while you build something for yourself. Xisuma will show you how.”

The three of them finished their tea, and Zedaph and Tango got ready to go on their way. Grian didn’t know if they were going to stay, but at least he knew he’d done everything he could to give them a chance. If they decided to take it or not would be up to them.

As he walked them to the door to send them off, Zedaph turned back to look at him. His expression was kind, and he shot a glance over Grian’s shoulder, towards where he could hear Doc washing up after their guests.

Zedaph licked his lips, seemingly hesitating before he asked, “Are you and him…?”

Grian smiled, but didn’t answer. After a moment, Zedaph returned the gesture, and the man laughed gently as he walked down the cobble stairs to join Tango by the gate of the garden. “I guess we’ll see you around, Grian.”

His smile widened as the two men started walking down the path that would lead them to the village. “I suppose you will. Stay safe, you two.”

After watching their backs disappear around the edge of the forest, Grian turned back inside and closed the door behind him.

Doc was waiting for him in the kitchen. When the taller man opened up his arms, Grian accepted the hug with a small sigh, sinking into the embrace. “That went well,” Doc offered, and Grian was inclined to agree.

“Yeah,” he murmured, and let his eyes close when he felt the familiar rumbles starting to reverberate through the taller man’s chest. “I think it did. They didn’t try anything when they saw you?”

“No. They have survived long enough to know it is better to run rather than fight, but they stopped when I called out. To them.”

“Good. I worry about you, you know.”

“I know,” Doc replied, arms curling around Grian’s back as he huddle-walked the two of them over the threshold to the small living room. The backs of Grian’s knees hit the couch, and he let Doc turn them around until the taller man could sink down on the cushions, pulling Grian down along with him until he was seated on Doc’s lap.

Grian hummed as he settled in, listening to the calming rumbles still working their way from Doc’s chest.

After a while spent in silence, enjoying each other’s company, Grian asked, voice quiet, “Are you happy with me?”

“I am,” Doc replied. Grian felt a gentle kiss being pressed to the top of his head, and he shivered before pressing himself even closer to Doc’s chest, arms wrapping around the taller man in turn. “And you, Grian? Are you happy?”

“Mhm,” Grian said, hiding his content smile against Doc’s soft fur. “Very much so. I love you.”

He could hear the way Doc’s heartbeat sped up at that, and Grian’s smile widened.

“I like it when you say that.”

“I like it, too,” Grian giggled.

“I love you.”

Grian felt heat rising to his cheeks. The way Doc said the words always carried such weight, and it never failed to make his breath catch.

It was still light outside. He hadn’t had dinner yet - he hadn’t even fed the cats. He should really try to get more things done before indulging himself, but at that moment, he couldn’t help it. He was safe, content, warm. Doc’s arms were around him, and neither of them were alone.

He leaned up to press a soft kiss to Doc’s mouth. “Take me to bed?”

They were happy.

“I'd love to.”

They were  _ home. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song rec: Welcome home - Radical Face


End file.
